Dixon farm cotton wheat and soybeans

Thursday, August 22, 2002

Mississippi County Farm Family 2002, the Perry Dixon's, farm cotton, wheat and soybeans.

Cotton is 100 percent Round-up variety.

"We are in the process of changing from conventional tillage to minimum tillage. We use cotton scouts to monitor insects," Mr. Dixon said. "We foliar feed with yield enhancers such as boron, sulfur, nitrogen, and other as needed."

The Dixon's take care of their own spraying with a highboy. Mr. Dixon, Sr., has a commercial license and Mr. Dixon, Jr., has an applicator's license.

The Dixon's make it a practice to keep ditches cleaned out for proper drainage problems.

For the soybean crops the Dixon's maintain proper drainage by digging ditches and keeping the land in smooth condition.

The soybeans are planted on narrow row spacing in order to cut down on expensive soil preparation. They plant only Round-up variety soybeans.

Irrigation is used on about 40 percent of the total acreage.

The Dixon's use the same practices on wheat as they do for soybeans. All wheat beans are irrigated.

The Dixon's are very environmental and conservation conscious.

"We never use more than recommendations on insecticides or herbicides. We keep field pipes installed to keep land from eroding and keep the ditches clean. Cover crops are planted to prevent erosion," Dixon said.

All cotton is marketed through staplcotton. All soybeans and wheat are monitored daily with his local elevator and they make the decision whether to sell or contract.

Mr. Dixon does his own record keeping with the help from a professional CPA. Mrs. Dixon takes care of all of the home expenses.